Bill Would Allow Some College Athletes To Unionize

The legislator who has proposed a bill that would allow certain college athletes to unionize said Tuesday that he thinks a union would at least get students "a seat at the table."

Rep. Matthew Lesser, D-Middletown, said he was partly inspired by former UConn star Shabazz Napier's comment last March that he had gone to bed hungry some nights. "This is a really big industry," he said. "We've heard from students at UConn and around the country that they feel exploited. … So the question is, do we want to give those students the right to negotiate with the schools and the NCAA?"

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Lesser said he's had mixed reaction from legislative colleagues so far, but Rep. Peter Tercyak, D-New Britain, and co-chairman of the legislature's labor committee, said Tuesday that he thinks the bill should get a hearing in the committee.

Tercyak said that when he heard Napier's comments, "one of the things I thought of was that short of speaking out when a reporter puts a microphone in front of your face, how do these people get heard? One of the reasons people unionize is to be able to have a voice at their workplace about the conditions that they work under."

Those conversations are going on at other universities in the country, Tercyak said. "It's at least a worthwhile discussion to be having in Connecticut," Tercyak said.

A public hearing, he said, "will give us a better idea of what various people think is appropriate."

State Rep. Roberta Willis, D-Salisbury, and co-chairwoman of the legislature's higher education committee, said she doesn't supportive the bill. "We're not inclined" to take it up, she said. "If they want to be in sports, they should join a [professional] team. It's college, it's supposed to be fun."

The bill calls for an intercollegiate athlete to be treated as an employee for collective bargaining purposes if the students receives a full or nearly full scholarship related to athletics and participates in a sport that brings in significant revenue.

Lesser said he expects that at the University of Connecticut, the men's and women's basketball players would meet that definition, as would football team members, but probably not the members of other teams. He said the bill would apply to other state universities and colleges as well.

Lesser said it would be up to the players to decide whether they would want to unionize and which issues they might want to negotiate. It may not be that salary is an issue, he said, but they might want to negotiate to gain some control over the use of their images in video games or on jerseys.

"Right now they are forbidden from earning any money off their likenesses," Lesser said.

The bill comes at a time when student athletes' rights and privileges are under discussion across the country and are in the midst of transition. Last spring, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that football players at Northwestern University have the right to join a labor union, though they have not yet done so.

Tanesha Boatright, the mother of UConn basketball star Ryan Boatright, said she's not sure if a union is the answer. "I don't know how it should be done, I don't know which way it should be done, but I think something should be done," she said, "A lot of athletes are struggling."

Tanesha Boatright said she is "so thankful" that her son ended up at UConn and "grateful for the full-ride" scholarship, but even with that, many student-related expenses are not covered. Necessities like laundry detergent and toothpaste aren't covered. Nor is the cost of a meal out, she said, adding that, occasionally, "they'll want to go Panda Express or to Burger King."

As a member of the basketball team, students aren't allowed to have a part-time job, so if they find a girlfriend, she said, they "don't even have money to take her to a show or to go out eat, normal things that teenagers experience."

Tanesha Boatright called Napier's comment a "door-opener," and said, "I do believe change will be coming. I believe the NCAA wants to make it better."

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Former UConn basketball player R.J. Evans said the idea of a union is a definitely a "cool concept."

"Even though we get treated very well, the school takes care of us [as athletes]," Evans said, "you kind of get the feeling that they are getting more out of the deal than we are."

Evans, who played for UConn in the 2012-13school year, said he thinks it would be a good idea for players to unionize, but he wouldn't want them to get salaries. He said getting paid would put too much pressure on athletes and also might lessen the incentive to play as hard as possible.

"I feel like it would be less exciting," he said.

But he said athletes should be able to negotiate for the use of their image in video games and on posters or T-shirts. "I think they should have more involvement in how their likeness is used," Evans said.

An earlier version of this story had an incorrect first name for UConn basketball player Ryan Boatright.